Some computing devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, etc.) may provide a graphical keyboard as part of a graphical user interface for composing text using a presence-sensitive display (e.g., a screen). The graphical keyboard may enable a user of the computing device to enter text (e.g., an e-mail, a text message, or a document, etc.). For instance, a presence-sensitive display of a computing device may output a graphical (or “soft”) keyboard that enables the user to enter data by indicating (e.g., by tapping) keys displayed at the presence-sensitive display.
In some cases, a computing device may present a continuous-gesture graphical keyboard (sometimes referred to as a “combo gesture keyboard,” or “gesture keyboard”) with which a user can interact by inputting a continuous gesture that indicates a word to be input to the computing device (e.g., by sliding his or her finger over various regions of the presence-sensitive screen associated with desired keys of the keyboard). In this way, continuous-gesture graphical keyboards allow a user to enter a word or group of words with a single gesture. As such, a continuous-gesture graphical keyboard may allow the user to achieve a certain degree of input efficiency.
Users may make typographical errors when entering text into a computing device. The frequency with which users make typographical errors may be higher on small virtual keyboards, such as those commonly found in today's mobile telephones and tablet computers. To help users enter text with fewer typographical errors, a computing device may determine that an entered word is not in a lexicon for a language and may attempt to identify a word that the user meant to enter. The computing device may then automatically replace the entered word with the identified word.
However, there are many instances where a user intends to input a word that is not in the lexicon. For example, the lexicon may not include the word “Raton” but the user may intend to input the word “Raton” as part of the name of the city “Boca Raton.” In this example, the computing device may automatically correct the word “Raton” with a word that is in the lexicon, such as “ration.” Replacement of a correctly-entered word that is not in the lexicon with incorrect words that are in the lexicon may lead to user frustration.
Furthermore, the user may misspell an out-of-lexicon word. For example, the user may misspell the word “Raton” as the character string “Rqton.” In this example, the computing device may automatically replace “Rqton” with an in-lexicon word, such as “ration.” This may lead to user frustration because the user may be forced to delete the replacement in-lexicon word and re-type the desired word.